Car Sharing  
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Benefits of Car Sharing
How it Works
Where to Find


'If you live in a city,
you don't need to own a car.'
William Clay Ford Jr., Chaiman,
Ford Motor Company
 
Looking for a cheaper way to drive around town? Do you have a small car and occasionally need a larger one? Do you live in a city and don't drive enough to justify the expense of owning, licensing, insuring and parking a car?		  


Car sharing is an energy-saving idea whose time has come! North Americans are starting to see the benefits of "no car ownership hassles" which many Europeans have already known. Car share programs are in place in many European cities, serving more than 150,000 members. These programs are now springing up across North America.
 
Benefits
Convenient - a car when you need one; some programs have various models to suit your changing needs. Some motorists also use carshare as a 'second car'.
Practical - reduces number of cars in the city. Reduces car usage of individuals by as much as 50%.
Environmental - improves air quality. Each car share vehicle replaces 4 to 8 privately held cars.
Low cost - pay only for the hours you drive; a fraction of the cost of owning a car; is cheaper than owning a car if you need a car for fewer than 7500 miles(12,000 km)/year.
Carefree - no maintenance; no servicing; no parking hassles; no cleaning

How does Car Sharing compare to car rental? Car rentals cost between $40 and $50 a day, plus more charges for mileage and insurance. Car sharing is less expensive because you can rent by the hour, you have reserved parking locations, there are no line-ups or papers to fill out and no pick-up or drop-off constraints. Availability of vehicles, however, is not guaranteed to match your time requirements.

Car-sharing services can get pricey for people who drive long distances or take the car on an overnight trip. But for people who just need to go to the grocery store, a doctor's appointment or visit a friend out of town, car sharing can be cheaper than renting a car.

 
How it Works
Reserve by phone or online; 1 hour minimum up to 2 months in advance (Some services require as little as one minute’s advance notice, and members can reserve vehicles as far as one year in advance. Consult individual websites for details.)
Unlock the car with your personal card or key
Drive away
Return to a specified carshare location before your reservation time expires
Leave car as clean as you found it

The carshare company owns and insures all its cars, which are parked at convenient locations around town. You can pick up a car, with some carshare programs, drop it off at any carshare location when you're finished. (Other carshare programs do not allow members to take one-way trips with the vehicles, because the next member who has reserved that vehicle is expecting it to be returned to its starting location.) You pay only for the hours you've had the car. Gas, oil and car maintenance are paid by the company; members are issued a company credit card for these costs. If the car is already booked, members either have to take an alternate car, or wait until the car they usually drive is available.

The only rule is to get the car back on time. Carshares charge a late fee, usually around $20, and drivers who are consistently late lose their membership.

Cost: Annual memberships range from $25 to $100 a year. Some carshare programs require a security deposit in the $200-$500 range. Other programs have no security deposit requirement; consult individual websites for details. Usage fees range from less than $2 an hour to $9 an hour.
 
 
Where to Find
United States:
ZipCar - currently serving Boston, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland OR, Los Angeles, Washington DC.(metro), San Diego and Atlanta, with plans to expand to over 30 cities across the U.S. www.zipcar.com/
City CarShare - serving San Francisco and the greater Bay area with a fleet of over 200 cars. Cars have automatic transmissions. www.sfcarshare.org/ As a City CarShare member, you get driving privileges in other cities, such as Philadelphia, Austin, Madison, St. Paul, Minneapolis, Syndey (AU) and Melbourne (AU).
Boulder CarShare - Boulder city-wide carshare program. Boulder CarShare is planning to place its first neighborhood electric vehicle in the Norwood/Quince neighborhood. (August 10, 2001) www.carshare.org/
I-Go - serving the greater Chicago area. www.i-go-cars.com/
Hourcar - serving Minneapolis and St. Paul MN with a fleet of ToyotaPrius hybrids and Toyota Yaris cars.
Philly Car Share - serving the greater Philadelphia region with Priuses, Minis, BMWs, Elements, pickups, and more.
 Austin Car Share - serving the downtown Austin, Hyde Park and Univ. of Texas areas with Scion xA's and Toyota Tacomas.
Community Car - serving Madison WI with high gas mileage and hybrid vehicles.
U Car Share - currently in Portland, OR. Portland, ME. Berkeley, CA. and Madison, WI.

Canada:
CommunAuto - serving Montreal, Sherbrooke and Quebec. www.communauto.com
Victoria Car Share Co-op - offering Victoria, BC residents an alternative to personal car ownership. www.vvv.com/~carshare
Co-operative Auto Network (CAN) - Vancouver based nonprofit car sharing organization. www.cooperativeauto.net/
ZipCar - currently serving Toronto, www.zipcar.com/
VRTUCAR - is a car-share service that offers members 24 hour access to a fleet of cars stationed conveniently around Ottawa. www.vrtucar.com/
AutoShare Car Sharing Network - gives members 24-hour access to a fleet of cars stationed around Toronto. www.autoshare.com/
The People's Car Co-operative - provides car sharing in the Waterloo, Ontario region. www.peoplescar.org/
Car-Sharing Co-Op of Edmonton - serving greater Edmonton, Alberta. www.web.net/~cce/

Australia:
GoGet Australia - Australia's first national car sharing network, operates in Sydney and Melbourne. www.goget.com.au/
Newtown CarShare - now servicing the Sydney inner city area. www.newtowncarshare.info
CharterDrive - now serving the Sydney city area, and several locations in Melbourne. THe network of locations is constantly expanding. www.charterdrive.com.au
Flexicar - now serving St. Kilda, Fitzroy, Carlton in Melbourne. Flo intends to locate cars in every inner Melbourne suburb. www.flexicar.com.au

Europe and the UK:
European Car Sharing - umbrella organization for five car sharing companies in Europe. ECS currently has 40 participants, who operate shared cars for about 56,000 members in over 550 towns. At present ECS is represented in Denmark, Germany, Italy, Norway, and Switzerland.   www.carsharing.org/
Mobility CarSharing Switzerland - offering a fleet of cars available nationwide for customers to use as needed. www.mobility.ch/
CARvenience - "hire by the hour" program run by car rental company Avis. Sutton and Southwark are the first two London boroughs to officially launch the scheme on September 22, European Car Free Day. www.avis.co.uk/
HOURCARS Salisbury - car pooling system in and around Salisbury. www.communitycars.org.uk/
CampusCars - pay-as-you-drive car sharing program at Cranfield University. www.cranfield.ac.uk/sims/ecotech/projects/carshare.htm
CamShare - Web-based multi-employer car sharing facility operating in the East of England. It is run by Travel for Work (www.tfw.org.uk), a not-for-profit partnership group of organisations seeking to help employers resolve transport issues by encouraging staff to
travel in ways other than driving alone. www.camshare.info
Copenhagen Car Sharing - Copenhagen car sharing, a non-profit organisation. www.copenhagencarsharing.dk/

For more comprehensive information about car clubs in the UK, visit Carplus.

'Ride-shares' in Europe and the UK:
London CarShare - not a "car share' in the sense of the other listings on this page, this is a 'virtual noticeboard' which matches drivers with riders. London Borough or Home Counties location. www.londoncarshare.co.uk/
Shareajourney.com Ltd - London based, similar to the above ride-sharing service. www.shareajourney.com/
Liftshare - aims to make sharing cars a viable transport alternative in the UK. Also offers maps, public transport info, and traffic news. www.liftshare.com/
LetsGoToWork.org.uk - not-for-profit trust dedicated to arranging car journey sharing in the UK. www.letsgotowork.org.uk/
K&S Car Share - puts users in contact with potential sharers in their area. www.kscarshare.co.uk/
National Car Share - again links member drivers and passengers. They also offer an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) car sharing information line. www.nationalcarshare.co.uk
Suffolk Car Share - a 'ride-share' service, similar to the above listings. This is a free service to all people in Suffolk who wish to offer or request a lift to or from anywhere in Suffolk and vicinity. www.suffolknetwork.co.uk/aboutus/car.asp
MyLifts.com - a new online car sharing application that allows you to search for sharers using cutting edge technology, maps and personal profiling. www.mylifts.com
Catchalift.com - This free new web-based service connects rides with riders. Currently offers this service in Canada, Australia, NZ and UK. www.catchalift.com/
 
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